An exquisite beauty of unparalled grace. A glowing face that could launch a thousand ships. An infectious smile that could flutter a million hearts. A spontaneous burst of laughter that could make even a lightning go haywire. No vocabulary is enough to describe Madhubala. By Bhupindar Singh
Born as Mumtaz Jahan Dehlvi on 14th February 1933 in Delhi in a Pathan family. She was born on Valentine day to spread the message of love. “She is highly regarded as ‘The Beauty with Tragedy’ and ‘The Venus of Indian Cinema’. She was active between 1942 and 1960 along with her contemporaries Meena Kumari and Nargis. Often regarded as ‘the Marlyn Monroe of Bollywood’, she was also called The Timeless Beauty.
She started her career as a child artiste as baby Mumtaz in 1942 in film Basant. She become the favorite child artist of Bombay Talkies, biggest production house of its time. Impressed by her talent and performance Devika Rani changed her screen name to Madhubala. Her first lead role at the age of 14 was with Raj Kapoor in Neel Kamal (1947). Kidar Sharma after the death of his wife had a desire to marry Madhubala, but she was destined for bigger things. She achieved stardom and popularity in 1949 at the age of 17 which many do not achieve in their life time. Ashok Kumar the great star and producer recommended her name as the heroin for Mahal to director Kamal Amrohi. This turned out to be one of the greatest box office hits in 1949 after which she worked in 4 more hits - Dulari (1949),Beqasoor (1950), Tarana andBadal (1951). She became a superstar.
She went on to become the most sought after actress between 50-60, but she was a mystery. Because of his father strict control, she was working only from 10 to 6 pm shift; no public appearance, not ever on premier of her films because of which her fans were keen to see her in person. As a result there will be huge crowds outside the studio after her shift will be over.She was quite well aware of her beauty and she will innocently sometime flirt with her heroes and directors.
There were stories about this with Prem Nath, Ashok Kumar, Kamal Amrohi, Kedar Sharma, and many but her true feelings and love was reserved for the great Dilip Kumar which reached its Zenith in film Tarana (1951) this film andAmar produced by Mehboob Khan were land mark films with Dilip Kumar in her career. There were stories about their love affair and the tragic breakup. The person responsible for the breakup was no one else but her father Attaullah Khan. He put many barriers in her career. May be he did not want to lose her daughter’s income if she got married.
He set up his own production house with her money and produced films which flopped at Box office - like Patthan (1962) with Prem Nath and Mumtaz in the lead and he had nine music directors in one film. Madhubala also produced the film Naata (1955) with Abhi Bhattacharya as hero which flopped. Madhubala has been the second actress in whose name a film was produced in 1950 with her as a heroin. First was Nargis in 1947. She was having the best of times till 1954 as her golden period and then came the sad phase in her life when her father Attaullah Khan created bitterness for Madhubala with BR Chopra and Dilip Kumar, even after taking advance for Madhubala for Naya Daur he laid down condition for shooting which were inappropriate and against the spirit of the script. BR Chopra filed a legal suit against her father and Dilip Kumar gave witness against him. What Dilip Kumar said in the court became headlines those days. It was his open admission of love for Madhubala. He said, “yes I love her and will continue loving her all my life, but the truth is not on her side”. Madhubala got upset and their relations became strained and never become normal. BR Chopra replaced Vijyantimala as a heroin in Naya Daur and a new hit pair was born. Dilip selected Vijyanti Mala even for his own production Ganga Jamuna.
Madhubala’s career as well as personal life got adversely affected with this episode. She continued working relentlessly in films but the emotional vacuum remained. While shooting for Mughl-e-Azam which started in 1950 but released in 1960 Dilip Kumar and Madhubala were not even in talking terms for half of the film, but Madhubala worked with full zeal and emotions and did not let the film suffer. This was Madhubala a perfectionist even in failed love. Madhubala was known for a very free and pleasant behavior with all her costars and directors. Sometimes it created misunderstandings. Dev Anand the super romantic star of 50’s who has worked with Madhubala in many films including his own Kala Pani says so about Madhubala in his auto biography:- “I remember Kala Pani the most for Madhubala, its leading lady, the most beautiful of all the heroines in the fairyland of films, with her natural looks, always as fresh as morning dew, sans heavy make-up, false eyelashes, contact lences or scanty dresses fashioned by designers to impart artificial glamour that would titillate male curiosity. Her child like innocence was accentuated by the most noticeable trait of her character, her famous giggle. Every time I think of her, I hear her giggle outside my make-up room, followed by a knock at the door that announced her arrival.
‘So you have arrived!! Hohoho!! I would greet her, and her ‘yes, I have’ was always substituted by another giggle. She was forever giggling at the slightest pretext. Nobody knew when the next bout of giggles would come, and once it did, how long it would last!! Many times she would suddenly start giggling during the take when the camera was on. The lights had to be switched off indefinitely & tea ordered, until she was able to get a hold of herself rein in her mirth.The great giggler was perhaps laughing at the world around her that did not know that she had a damaged heart, & would die quite young.” In 1960 Mughl-e-Azam was released. The biggest and most expensive film ever produced. A magnum opus which made Madhubala an icon star. It took 10 years in making with so many stories woven around production. Be it related to the lead pair of Dilip-Madhubala or its music with the great legend Bade Ghulam Ali Khan singing or the Sheesh Mahal in which Madhubala sang Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya and the real pearls being thrown on floor to produce real sound or the real to life role of Akbar by Prithvi Raj Kapoor.
Even after 44 years in 2004 when its colored version was released it proved to be a hit crossing time barrier. This was the peak of Madhubala proving her acting ability of highest standard and her commitment to cinema. In the most memorable love scene of Dilip-Madhubala with feather between their lips both of them were not even on talking terms. There was lot of stories why she did not marry Dilip Kumar. There are different versions but let us go by what Dilip Kumar says in his auto biography:-’I must admit that I was attracted to her both as a fine co-star & as a person who had some of the attributes I hoped to find in a woman at that age and time. We had viewers admiring our pairing in Tarana and our working relationship was warm and cordial. She, as I said earlier, was very sprightly and vivacious and, as such, she could draw me out of my shyness and reticence effortlessly. She filled a void that was crying out to be filled- not by an intellectually sharp woman but a spirited woman whose liveliness and charm were the idea panacea for the wound that was taking its own time to heal. The announcement of our pairing in Mughl-e-Azam made sensational news in the early 1950’s because of the rumours about our emotional involvement. I sensed Asif was trying to mend the situation for her when matters began to sour between us, thanks to her father’s attempt to make the proposed marriage a business venture. The outcome was that half way through the production of Mughl-e-Azam, we were not even talking to each other. The classic scene with the feather coming between our lips, which set a million imaginations on fire, was shot when we had completely stopped even greeting each other. It should in all fairness, go down in the annals of film history as a tribute to the artistry of two professionally committed actor who kept aside personal differences and fulfill the director’s vision of a sensitive arresting and sensuous screen moment to perfection”.
The era of 60’s proved very eventful for Madhubala. She married Kishore Kumar in 1960 taking everyone by surprise. It turned to be a decision out of her frustration and her heart sickness-she had a hole in the heart which proved fatal. Even on her marriage the industry commented that, “She has lost her mind" marrying a irresponsible man. The marriage did not last long. She shifted to her home and in that sickness Kishore Kumar did not look after her and not even went to see her.The ‘giggler’ and the most ‘most beautiful’ woman had lonely and sad end and breathed her last on February 23,1969 at the prime age of 36. Before her death she did ring up Dilip Kumar saying, “I will be alright soon. Will you work with me at least in one film!! Dilip replied, “yes I will do so. You recover fast.” That was the last dialogue between two lovers where destiny and circumstances played spoil sport. Her last words, “I want to live”.
